Qualitative Research Studies

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The research study that was evaluated consisted of the impact that a brief intervention by community health nurses can have on patients who have risk factors for chronic disease, smoking, poor nutrition, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and weight. Nurses are crucial in primary health care in Australia where the study was conducted. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions by the community health nurses.
The study consisted of 804 patients between the ages of 30-80 who were randomly divided into two groups of early intervention and late intervention. The nurses in the early intervention group received training and support in identifying the risk factors and then offered brief lifestyle …show more content…

The specific design is identified. The research design that was used was the quasi-experimental design. Quasi-experimental designs attempt to determine casual relationships by applying the treatment to one group and comparing the outcome with a control group. In the quasi-experimental design, subjects are not randomly assigned. In many research studies, it may be unethical due to the nature of the study to randomly assign patients to a particular group. That said, there is loss of some control of the variables that may impact the study when the participants cannot be randomly assigned. “The lack of random assignment raises the question of how similar or dissimilar the treatment and comparison groups were from the outset in terms of baseline characteristics. For this reason, the results of quasi-experimental research are sometimes referred as a ‘trend’ versus a ‘cause’”(Grand Canyon University, 2016). When human subjects are involved in a study, there is never a guarantee that the differences in opinions or practices of the participants will not affect the results. Quasi-experimental designs are beneficial because they provide a wider scope of design and allow the research to occur in its natural setting. The results or outcomes of a quasi-experimental research design can be validated by implementing specific methods that assist in identifying the comparison group, the control variables and …show more content…

The authors of the study state that the rationale for using this research design is because it was thought that it was not feasible to randomize the intervention according to individual clients or practitioners within the services. “The overall response rate could also have introduced bias affecting the generalizability of the findings, as more interested clients may have chosen to participate” (Harris, et al, 2013) Hence, why this research design was selected.
The analysis compared changes using univariate and multilevel regression techniques. The univariate analysis is the simplest form of analyzing data. It consists of only one variable. It is mainly used to describe the results. It takes the data, summarizes it and then finds trends or patterns. The multilevel regression techniques are useful when you are comparing data between groups. It allows the researcher to study the effects by group and estimate

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